During my real estate investing heyday I got pretty good at finding properties and cutting deals. What I wasn't so good at was managing the properties that I was unable to sell as rental units.
Not every investment that started out as a property flip was successful. Consequently, I turned to renting some of my properties out of pure necessity.
I had to do something to stymie the negative cash flow. However, in some instance matters worsened, primarily because I did a poor job putting my foot down with tenants. It wasn't uncommon for tenants to stiff me. Some failed to pay and then moved out owing 5 to 6 months rent, they trashed the units before moving out, and/or were pretty otherwise a royal pain in the butt.
But perhaps the craziest thing about it all is that I was a great rental agent for my clients needing a rental agent. Rarely did I encounter situations where I wasn't able to collect their rents.
Are you an investor? Are you able to successfully manage your own rental units, or are you like me? Can you relate to this story?
